AI News

The Federal Housing Administration announced Dec. 7 that it would stop issuing mortgages on properties that include Property Assessed Clean Energy assessments. The decision is part of a broader effort to protect the agency's Single Family Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which has a net worth of $25.6 billion.

Ginnie Mae announced Dec. 7 that it is going after lenders that pressure veterans into mortgage refinancing they don't need and that offer rates 1.5 points above market, Bloomberg reported. Ginnie Mae guarantees payment on $2 trillion in mortgage-backed securities, including loans made through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Analytics firms CoStar and Xceligent are purported to be in advanced discussions to settle a year-long intellectual property lawsuit, Bisnow reported Dec. 6. A court order prohibits both parties from discussing a potential settlement of the suit in which CoStar accused Xceligent of stealing its proprietary data.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owe the government $7.7 billion by the end of the year, but their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is negotiating with the White House to pay a significantly smaller sum to give the government-sponsored enterprises a buffer against future losses, Bloomberg reported Nov. 29.

A community bank in Tennessee has submitted a request to the Appraisal Subcommittee seeking a one-year waiver from appraisal regulation requirements to use a certified appraiser, the Appraisal Institute learned Nov. 29. If the waiver is approved, it would apply to all institutions, not just the requesting organization.

Banks servicing delinquent mortgages in 2009 and 2010 are alleged to have delayed foreclosure proceedings in electoral districts of then-members of the House Financial Services Committee to influence congressional action on Dodd-Frank, according to research from Georgetown University, Ohio State University, Rutgers University and the Federal Reserve in Chicago, MarketWatch reported.

Third quarter core inflation was 1.3 percent, up from 0.9 percent the second quarter, and keeping inflation under 2 percent is one of the Fed's biggest challenges, outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told a New York University audience Nov. 21, MarketWatch reported.

Home-sharing service Airbnb contributes to an increase in both rents and home prices by making it financially viable for homeowners to refrain from selling their house or finding a long-term renter, further reducing the already limited supply of available properties, according to researchers at UCLA, MarketWatch reported Oct. 31.

The Trump administration is committed to ending conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to Mark Calabria, the vice president's chief economist, HousingWire reported. Speaking at a housing conference Nov. 1, Calabria said the current conservatorship agreement for the government-sponsored enterprises leaves taxpayers too exposed to the mortgage market.

Eighty-two percent of agriculture lenders reported a decline in farm profitability during the past year, but a reported 84 percent loan-approval rate indicates optimism about the agriculture sector, according to the Summer 2017 Agricultural Lender Survey released Oct. 31 by the American Bankers Association and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp.